Welcome to Studio One
More Muscle. No Bloat.
Artists of all levels, from beginner to seasoned professional, will find Studio One a serious alternative to the intimidating, bloated offerings currently considered the standards. It’s a groundbreaking music creation and production application for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista/7 that makes audio recording, MIDI sequencing, and audio mastering ridiculously simple right out of the box.
Studio One changes the rules of the game with fresh code, innovative drag-and-drop MIDI mapping and plug-in management, auto-configuration with PreSonus hardware, insanely good audio quality, unlimited tracks and plug-ins per track, and a powerful, inventive Start page.
And although Studio One Pro hit the scene just months ago we’ve already added even still more pro chops with Version 1.5. From tracking to mixing to mastering and distribution, it’s the creative environment built for intuitive use, speed, and efficiency–and yet it’s robust enough for the most complex productions.
70+ v1.5 enhancements but still uncluttered and simple to use.
CLICK HERE for a cut-to-the-chase look at Version 1.5
How Studio One was Born (The Inside Story)
We had a clear and simple goal: Wipe the slate clean and apply decades of collective software and hardware experience to bring the DAW back to the musician and producer. After two years of coding and testing by some of the world’s finest programmers, Studio One Artist and Studio One Pro are the result.
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New-Generation Audio Engine Under the Hood
Studio One employs a unique, state-of-the-art audio engine that delivers incredibly clear, accurate sound. Studio One Pro features a 64-bit floating-point version of this audio engine that automatically switches between 64- and 32-bit operation on the fly to accommodate 32-bit plug-ins. This means you always get the highest possible sound quality and blazing speed. Studio One Artist features the same audio engine but always operates in 32-bit mode.
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Compatible and Easy to Configure
Studio One is compatible with any ASIO-, Windows Audio-, or CoreAudio-compliant audio interface, including, of course, the entire line of PreSonus interfaces.
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Innovative Start Page
From the moment you connect your PreSonus hardware and launch Studio One, it’s evident that this is a new and better way to record music.
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Easy to Navigate
One click lands you on the Song page, a single, straightforward workspace that allows you to track, edit, and mix in one easy-to-navigate window.
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Drag-and-Drop-o-Rama
Studio One’s powerful drag-and-drop functions let you to drag an audio clip, effect, or a virtual instrument from the Browser directly onto a track in the Arrange or Console (mixer) view. Want to save an audio or MIDI clip as a file or save an effect or VI preset? Just drag it from the Arrange or Console view back to the Browser—done!
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Cue Mix Built In
All PreSonus FireStudio-series audio interfaces include an internal software mixer that allows you to set up cue (monitor) mixes with zero latency. Manage these cue mixes from within Studio One, rather than using the external control panels normally required.
Mixdown Made Easy
The advantages of an integrated music-production system built from the ground up continue when it’s time to mix. Studio One’s Console is available in the Song page at all times, but it can be separated and even dragged to a second monitor.
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Mastering (Studio One Pro)
Several DAWs offer integrated mastering capabilities to varying degrees. Without that capability, you need a separate mastering application. But no other DAW offers a truly integrated mastering suite comparable to the Project page in Studio One Pro.
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Picture This
Want to do sound for picture? With Studio One Pro, you can import any QuickTime video into a Song for playback and sync, with adjustable video-playback size and time offset. Simply drag-and-drop the video from the Browser into the arrangement to import it and, optionally, extract the audio from the video and place it on a new audio track. A new Follow Edit Position helps sync to specific video frames by adjusting the playback-cursor position based on the current edit position.
But Wait, There’s Yet Even Still More…
It’s obvious that Studio One keeps you out of a maze of nested windows and dialog boxes. And if you’re an experienced engineer or producer, you can already appreciate the attention to workflow, which will help you more efficiently make a record. Here are a few more things to consider:
- Key Command Editor
Version 1.5 adds a new key-command editor with Search and Learn features for creating and modifying keyboard shortcuts. The search feature finds specific key commands and shows which functions they trigger and also finds specified functions and displays the key commands to which they are assigned.
Control Link™ MIDI Mapping With “Focus”
Studio One integrates with hardware controllers simply and easily. The usefulness of the coolest plug-in or instrument is, after all, greatly diminished if you can’t easily touch it with more than a mouse! We solved this problem once and for all.
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- Native Plug-Ins and More
Even if you don’t own any plug-ins, we have you covered. If you do own plug-ins, you’ll want Studio One Pro, which supports the VST 2, VST 3, and AU plug-in formats, as well as ReWire.
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- Unlimited Undo History
Even after you’ve saved!
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Studio One Artist and Studio One Pro
Studio One comes in two flavors to suit your specific needs. We understand that there are different ways of making music and different levels of involvement. Some of you are cruising in home studios, capturing your creative grooves on your own time and at your own pace. Others are working in a project or commercial studio, whether on the clock for paying clients or producing your own work for sale.
Try It For Free
We make bold claims about Studio One. And we put our code where our mouth is by offering you a free trial download. Try it and discover how easy creating music can be. Or visit your PreSonus dealer and ask for a full demo.
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Okay, strap in and grease up your mouse. It’s the…
The Complete Guided Tour of Studio One
What follows is a comprehensive overview of Studio One. If you click on all the links, it’s long, detailed, and not for the faint of heart. But we’ve broken it down into a lot of easy-to-digest subsections.
Start Page
Launching Studio One always lands you on the Start page. Think of it as the base camp for everything you are working on. The Start page is also your portal to the support team behind Studio One.
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Song Page
Welcome to your new recording studio! Here’s where our new approach to graphic interfaces makes creating music so much easier for you.
Layout and Organization
Browser and Pool
Recording Controls
Power Buttons and Track Tools
Track Editing
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Audio and Instrument Track Automation
The deep automation capabilities of Studio One won’t be apparent until you start mixing. But even during tracking you have a lot of useful options.
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Effects Plug-ins
Studio One Pro ships with 25 64-bit Native Effects™ signal-processor plug-ins and one specialized plug-in (Pipeline). Studio One Artist ships with 20 32-bit plug-ins. Studio One Pro also supports VST 2.4, VST 3, AU, and ReWire. Neither version imposes limits on the number of plug-ins that can be used in a given Song. You’re limited only by your computer. [Image: Song Page_Browse_Effects Menu]
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Virtual Instruments
Studio One also ships with four native virtual instruments. Two of them have just undergone serious upgrades.
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Dynamic Time Stretching
Studio One now uses dynamic time-stretching to change tempos within an event, rather than having to slice the event into separate events with different tempos. Constrain position when dragging events between tracks within a defined range, use a keyboard shortcut to fast-forward and rewind by measures, and accelerate scrolling while dragging with the new Turbo mode. When you select a region on a track, you can now extend the selection using Shift and the Up/Down arrow keys. When you select and remove a range in the Edit menu, the time in between regions will be deleted and the regions will snap together.
Mixing
Studio One’s mixing capabilities are straightforward, intuitive, and easy to use. You can mix as many tracks and use as much processing as your computer CPU can handle. And Studio One’s powerful drag-and-drop features make it quick and easy to bring in new elements, effects, presets, and more.
Automation: The Rest of the Story
The answer to questions about Studio One’s automation capabilities is “Yes.” Nearly every parameter in Studio One, including virtual effects and instruments, can be automated using a mouse or a MIDI-mapped hardware controller.
The Project Page (Studio One Pro Mastering Suite)
Pay attention! This is unique to Studio One Pro. You don’t get this with other DAWs.
The Project page is the other window in Studio One Pro. (Yep, just two windows to create and complete an album!) In the Project page, you can lay out your album by selecting, sequencing, pacing, and processing your Songs. Then you can deliver the finished goods to web sites, FaceBook – anywhere on the internet via SoundCloud.
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- Integrated Tracking, Mixing, and Mastering
Learn more - Distribution
A new menu item enables you to upload songs, art, and metadata to the SoundCloud Web service directly from Studio One Pro.
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Finally… (like you really read this far)
Many DAWs have made the claim of being revolutionary, groundbreaking, life-changing, etc. And some of them were. Then commercial evolution took hold, turning many of these fine products into bloatware.
We felt we could do better. We combined our considerable experience as developers of audio-interface hardware with the expertise of a team of preeminent German DAW designers to create an engineering “dream team.” This team reevaluated the entire process of computer-based recording and considered how we could build a superior new application using fresh software code and the latest technologies. The result is Studio One.
Whether you climb onboard with Studio One Artist or Studio One Pro, your experience of creating and recording music is about to improve dramatically. If you are new to recording, you’re starting in the right place because Studio One makes music production easier than you imagined possible, yet it doesn’t skimp on features. If you are switching from a hardware sequencer (say, in a keyboard workstation), get ready for more music-production power than you’ve ever experienced. If you are here because of dissatisfaction with your current DAW, get ready to feel springtime fresh!
From mic input to main output, PreSonus Studio One is the culmination of decades of experience collected by real musicians, engineers, and whole bunch of really great customers and friends. And you are…
Welcome!
Key additions include support for video playback and sync for composing to picture, major enhancements to the Browser’s drag-and-drop capabilities, the ability to draw your own automation waveforms, automation points that are locked to events, a new key-command editor, changing tempos within a event without slicing the event into separate events, and support for song and album art. A first-of-its-kind, built-in SoundCloud client enables you to upload audio files from Studio One directly to the Web. The MIDi features have been improved, including a new MIDI file player in the Browser. We’ve enhanced the Native Effects plug-ins and added new ones. And that’s by no means all that is in this impressive update. Let’s take a closer look.
Those who create sound for picture will be delighted with the new video features. You can now import any QuickTime video into a Song for playback and sync, with adjustable video playback size and time offset. Simply drag-and-drop the video from the Browser into the arrangement to import it and, optionally, simultaneously extract the audio from the video and place it on a new audio track. A new Follow Edit Position helps sync to specific video frames by adjusting the playback-cursor position based on the current edit position.
Browser drag-and-drop functionality has improved significantly. Drag an audio event to a location in the File Browser to instantly export a new audio file to that location. Drag an Instrument Part to the File Browser to export a MIDI clip to a specific location on your drive. Drag any insert effect or virtual instrument from the Device Rack to the Effects or Instruments Browser to store a preset for the effect or instrument; alternatively, drag to the File Browser to export the preset to a specific location on your drive.
You can now draw automation waveforms, and automation points are locked to selected events, so automation moves with the related events. A transform function lets you scale, stretch, and otherwise modify automation envelopes. An Undo history enables viewing and undoing all edits done since the file was opened, even if you have saved since then. A pitch-name editor is available in the drum layout, and you can save and load names from a pitch-name list.
Version 1.5 adds a new key-command editor with Search and Learn features for creating and modifying keyboard shortcuts. The search feature finds specific key commands and shows which functions they trigger and also finds specified functions and displays the key commands to which they are assigned.
Studio One now uses dynamic timestretching to change tempos within an event, rather than having to slice the event into separate events with different tempos. Constrain position when dragging events between tracks within a defined range, use a keyboard shortcut to fast-forward and rewind by measures, and accelerate scrolling while dragging with the new Turbo mode. When you select a region on a track, you can now extend the selection using Shift and the Up/Down arrow keys. When you select and remove a range in the Edit menu, the time in between regions will be deleted and the regions will snap together.
Album and Song Art can now be added to the Project and will be included in any exported Digital Release. A new menu item enables you to upload songs, art, and metadata to the SoundCloud Web service directly from Studio One.
Support for REX files also has been added. If you right-click a REX file in the Browser and select "Send to new SampleOne," all slices are imported into SampleOne, and a new Instrument Part is created. Alternatively, you can drag the whole REX file, or individual slices, into the arrangement.
Several changes have been made to the Native Effects plug-ins. The Pipeline plug-in has gained a scope that enables you to manually alter the offset (in samples) for latency compensation. The scope displays send and return signals on top of each other and shows you the difference in real time, enabling you to manually adjust delay compensation, which is much more accurate than the automatic delay compensation found in some DAWs. In addition, latency compensation has been enabled for effects on input channels, so if you put an effect on an input channel, the software will ensure that the recorded track and processed input remain aligned.
Plug-ins can now be bypassed, and this can be automated. A new Level Meter plug-in provides an extra-large peak/RMS display. The PreSonus Presence™ virtual instrument has been redesigned, upgraded to 96 voices, and enhanced with effects, including modulation effects, pan, delay, distortion, gate, reverb, and a 7-band graphic EQ with settings for Lead (center frequencies range from 50 Hz to 10 kHz) and Bass (100 Hz to 6.4 kHz). The Impact™ virtual instrument adds Velocity layers, an envelope Hold parameter, and a multimode low-pass, bandpass, or high-pass filter with 12 dB or 24 dB slope. To load effects to a specific output channel, just drag the effect onto a pad.
The Spectrum Meter plug-in and the spectrum meter on the Project page (in Studio One Pro) have gained average and peak-hold level indicators with variable time intervals for precise level analysis across the frequency spectrum. A new Scope plug-in provides in-depth oscilloscope functions for troubleshooting and measurement within Studio One, including three independent/overlaid channels with stereo and sidechain input selection and a mathematical operation channel (A-B, A-C, and B-C).
Version 1.5 also includes several MIDI enhancements. The file Browser has gained a MIDI preview player that sends the MIDI data to a selected Instrument Track for playback. The player displays the MIDI file’s length in bars and the number of notes in the pattern. Previously, MIDI quantization only affected Note On messages; now note ends (Note Off) can be quantized, as well. The Gate plug-in now sends MIDI note messages—perfect for drum replacement. Furthermore, MIDI files can be expanded in the Browser, and individual tracks can be dragged into the arrangement.
The export features have been significantly improved, including the ability to export entire channels as stems, complete with buses, effects, and instrument returns. In addition, when you export adjacent regions (between markers), you can now create custom-length overlaps at the head and tail of each region so that you can crossfade between the exported files. This works sort of like a pre-roll and post-roll. Studio One creates a folder for each region with a name derived from the marker name.
Version 1.5 is expected in April 2010 and will be a free update to registered users.